PARIS - France Telecom SA was mobilizing all 20,000 of its managers yesterday in an effort to respond to 23 employee suicides in 18 months, which unions blame partly on layoffs and restructuring.
The latest suicide was that of a 32-year-old woman who threw herself out of a fourth-floor window Friday.
Not all of the suicides were job-related, and it was not clear if the total was more than would be expected in a population of 100,000 - the size of the company’s French workforce. The French suicide rate was 15 per 100,000 people in the entire French population in 2004.
France Telecom has nonetheless taken numerous steps, including suspending 500 employee transfers that are a part of an ongoing reorganization. Management has also asked employees to watch for signs of depression.
“There will be a clear message to all the managers to quickly organize local team meetings to explain what happened and what’s being done, and to make sure that if there are problems they can be discussed,’’ said spokesman Sebastien Audra.
